If there were even a smidgen of doubt left that the Millennium Dome is in trouble, it would have been dispelled with the appointment of David James as the third chairman in its brief life.

Mr James, 62, is one of the most high profile "company doctors" in the City, hauled in by the banks to salvage something from the wreckage of corporate disasters when all else has failed.

He is well used to what are known in the square mile as basket cases and has overseen the break up of the British Shoe Company, the rescue and subsequent sale of airline Dan Air, and the winding up of conglomerate Eagle Trust.

During his chairmanship of Eagle Trust he enjoyed his most notable brush with fame, after stumbling upon development of the Iraqi supergun.

During a visit to one of the company's subsidiaries in 1990 he noticed three steel pipes one of which looked "like a thumping great muzzle, just like a cartoon representation of a siege gun". He made inquiries and reported his findings, the first tangible evidence that part of the gun was being built in Britain, to M16.

Mr James is unlikely to be phased by the criticisms which will undoubtedly come his way in taking on the much derided dome. Another colourful episode in his career gave him a ringside seat in Tripoli at the US bombing raid on Libya, where he was trying to negotiate the release of a dozen of his staff working in the region who had been taken hostage.

In his first job he spent five years at Lloyds Bank before joining the launch team of the credit arm of Ford.

In 1973 he joined accountancy firm Cork Gully where he played a role in the rescue of a company called Cedar Holdings. This acted as a springboard to his career as a company doctor, although he prefers the title of "crisis manager".

He went on to play a bruising role in the closure of a number of manufacturing businesses during the 1970s and 80s where he faced running battles with workers.

Mr James, who is also a member of the monitoring and investigations committee for Lloyd's of London, was awarded the CBE in 1992. He is the only child of a caterer father and unmarried. It is little surprise that Mr James has had offers from publishers to write his life story. The dome, which he has said will be a "hands on" job, could provide an intriguing epilogue.